FINANCE

FINANCE

2001 Budget Summary The following figures were gleaned from the obtuse “data sheets” I received from the borough when I requested a copy of the town budget. I had hoped to be able to provide a complete, yet concise, accounting of the boroughs finances. Unfortunately the information I have been provided does not make that possible. As a summary of Revenues the town provided these figures: Surplus $900,000.00 As far as I could ascertain from a conversation with the town Administrator this is “not exactly” a real surplus but more like a giant can of budget fudge that is restirred every year but never eaten. Apparently the town “coincidentally” underestimates “Miscellaneous Revenues” by nearly 100% every year to regenerate this perpetual “surplus.” Total Miscellaneous Revenues $1,055,768.00 According to the town Administrator the bulk of the $900,000.00 in “unanticipated” revenues needed to “create” next years surplus will be realized from these miscellaneous sources.
item	Anticipated	Realized in 2000	Surplus fudge
Alcoholic Beverage Licenses	$6,300	$6,300	0
Interest on Taxes	$10,000.00	$30,737.00	$20,737.00
Interest on Investments and Deposits	$135,781.00	$300,646.00	$164,865.00
State Aid	$717,803.00	$709,165.00	0
Uniform Construction Code	$50,000.00	$158,551.00	$108,551.00
Burnardsville Township Uniform Construction Code Services	$49,962.00	$43,719.00	0
Reserve for sale of Municipal Assets	$75,000.00	$75,000.00	0
Totals	$1,055,768.00	1,332,534.00	$276,766.00
Receipts from Delinquent Taxes $150,000.00 -- Realized in 2000: $130,788.00 Local Tax for Municipal Purposes $2,383,044 (anticipated) -- Realized in 2000: $2,488,121.00 (aprox. $1,700 per taxed property) This number is stated to include the $335,000.00 "Reserve for Uncollected Taxes" collected the previous year. There would appear to be at least $105,077.00 of budget fudge in this “anticipation.” This brings the “obvious” surprises that will create next years surplus to $381,843.00 --far short of the $900,000.00 expected to be realized. Total General Revenues $4,488,812.00
As a summary of Appropriations the town provided these figures:
Total For Debt Service $428,470.00 Interest On Outstanding Municipal Debt (approximate) $97,000.00 Repaid Principal (approximate) $330,000.00 Operating Expenses Salaries & Wages $1,904,577.00 General Administration $164,659.00 Mayor and Council $19,400.00 Municipal Clerk $50,500.00 Financial Administration $55,600.00 Tax Assessment $36,008.00 Tax Collection $44,300.00 Police $796,850.00 Fire $8,223.00 Road repairs and Maintenance $398,270.00 Public Building and Grounds $52,751.00 Waste Disposal $3,675.00 Board of Health $2,837.00 Welfare/Public Assistance $8,420.00 Recreation $25,437.00 Parks & Playgrounds $31,970.00 Construction Code $68,885.00 Zoning Code Enforcement $10,000 Historic Preservation $7,700.00 Planning Board $10,881.00 Board of Adjustment $10,881.00

Established Salaries
Personnel	Listed Department	Total Compensation
CLASS I - GENERAL GOVERNMENT
Administration
Mayor	3,200.00
Council Members	2,700.00
Administrator - Blakeslee	40,000.00	$80,000.00
Borough Clerk - Fuchs	50,000.00
Administrative Secretary - Pugsley	53,900.00
Clerk-Typist - Susco (3/26/01)	12,500.00	$25,000.00
Public Assistance Director - Durney	8,420.00
Secretary - Board of Health - Cleary	2,837.00	$41,185.00
Fire Official - C. Bellamy	33.70/hr.
Part-Time Office Help - K. Bellamy (4/16/01)	10.00/hr.

*Finance*
Treasurer/Chief Financial Officer - Giordano	55,000.00
Tax Collector - Hulse	42,000.00	$43,000.00
Tax Assessor - DelGuercio	18,500.00
Secretary/Finance Assistant - Lauerman	13,408.00	$29,770.00
Tax Search Officer - Hulse	1,000.00	$43,000.00
Construction Code
Building Inspector and Sub Code Official - Alicino	71,500.00	$78,300.00
Plumbing Sub Code Official - Alicino	6,800.00	$78,300.00
Building Dept. Control Person - Porter	16,554.00	$33,109.00
Electrical Inspector and Sub Code Official - Buchanan	25.75/hr.
Electrical Inspector and Sub Code Official - Stefani	25.00/hr
Fire Sub Code Official - Miller	25.00/hr.
Clerk Typist - Cleary	15,602.00	$41,185.00
Land Use
Secretary, Board of Adjustment - Lauerman	8,181.00	$29,770.00
Recording Secretary, Planning Board - Lauerman	8,181.00	$29,770.00
Zoning Officer - Snedaker	9,999.00
*Recreation*
Recreation Director-part time - Garrison	15,000.00
Recreation Office Clerical, Part-Time - Cleary	7,144.00	$41,185.00

Municipal Court
Magistrate - McMann	15,600.00

CLASS II - PUBLIC WORKS
*Roads, Buildings, Grounds, Parks*
Superintendent of Public Works - Crotsley	42,200.00	$84,400.00
Asst. Superintendent of Public Works - Hoagland	64,100.00
Foreman - Roads - Edwards	45,000.00
Foreman - Parks & Grounds - Menagh	40,440.00
Laborer - Pugsley	26,000.00
Semi-skilled Laborer - Taquinto	28,570.00
Semi-skilled Laborer - Heuneman	28,570.00
Chief Mechanic - Nelson	42,700.00
Building Maintenance - Conover	50,852.00
Building Maintenance/Driver	25,500.00
Skilled Laborer - Orgera	31,570.00	$60,070.00
Building Custodian - Thompson	12.80/hr.
Building Custodian - Bellamy	10.80/hr.
Building Custodian - Bohning (4/2/01)	10.50/hr.
Wastewater Utility Note: WRF salaries are not part of town budget.
Superintendent of Public Works - Crotsley	42,200.00	$84,400.00
Administrator - Blakeslee	40,000.00	$80,000.00
Sewage Treatment Operator Licensed - Miller	63,650.00
Sewage Treatment Plant Foreman - Wright	47,600.00
Semi-skilled Laborer - Brooks	29,300.00
Laborer - Orgera	28,500.00	$60,070.00
Public Utilities Clerk - Porter	16,555.00	$33,109.00
Clerk-Typist - Cleary	15,602.00	$41,185.00
Clerk-Typist - Susco (3/26/01)	12,500.00	$25,000.00
*CLASS III - LAW ENFORCEMENT*
School Crossing Guard	14.00/hr.
Police Matron	14.00/hr.
Special Police	14.00/hr.
Police Secretary, Part Time - Sacco	14.7l/hr.
Police Secretary - Full time - Andrus	$34,000.00
Police Secretary - Part time - Haverkost	$ 20.67/hr.
Police Chief - Cameron	$81,500.00
Police Captain - Gaffney	$79,000.00
Operating Expenses Other/non-salary $1,582,423.00 General Administration $31,850.00 Mayor and Council $1,050.00 Financial Administration $13,280.00 Annual Audit $20,000.00 Computerized Data Processing $20,000.00 Tax Assessment $11,663.00 Tax Collection $5,950.00 Legal Services $70,000.00 Engineering Services $16,400.00 Historic Preservation $6,250.00 Planning Board $22,400.00 Board of Adjustment $8,510.00 Police $73,850.00 Contractual Radio Dispatch $50,000.00 Aid to Volunteer Fire Company $48,850.00 Ambulance $5,000.00 Fire Hydrants $75,500.00 Municipal Prosecutor $10,000.00 Road Repairs and Maintenance $94,280.00 Public Building and Grounds $46,750.00 Shade Tree $10,000.00 Waste Disposal $134,900.00 Board of Health $41,674.00 Visiting Nurse $5,801.00 Environmental Commission $3,200.00 Animal Control $18,000.00 Welfare/Public Assistance $300.00 MASH Van $3,000.00 Recreation $25,500.00 Parks & Playgrounds $49,890.00 Construction Code $7,780.00 Zoning Code Enforcement Electricity $40,000.00 Street Lighting $25,000.00 Telephone $18,500.00 Water 11,500.00 Gas $25,000.00 Gasoline $25,000.00 Lenght of Service Award Program $35,000.00 Workmen’s Compensation Insurance $25,000.00 Group Insurance Plan $234,000.00 General Liability Insurance $50,000.00 Deferred Charges & Other Appropriations $177,980.00 Social Security System $149,865.00 Police and Fire Pension Fund $28,115.00 Reserve for Uncollected Taxes $335,000.00 Capital improvements $60,362.00 Debt Authorized $523,969.00 Total Appropriations $4,488,812.00 Municipal Investment Capital: $1,000,000.00+ According to the town Administrator The town owns more than one million in investment assets Unfortunately he “does not have the time” to provide the actual figure. The fact that the town collected $300,646.00 in interest in 2000 has me believing it is substantially more than $1,000,000.00. Municipal Debt: $1,985,400.00 as of the end of 2001 (From $2,128,714.00 in 2000) According to the Chief Financial Officer the 2001 figure includes the $523,892.00 in new debt approved in 2001 for the following projects: Street Overlays $52,000.00 Acquisition of DPW Equipment $49,231.00 Improvement to Parks $99,000.00 Improvements to Buildings $150,000.00 Acquisition of Fire Equipment $147,100.00 Sidewalk Repairs $80,000.00 Acquisition of Police Department Equipment $22,000.00 As we only paid off the books $330,000.00 of old debt in 2001, I find it difficult to understand how total debt decreased in 2001 if we added $523,892.00 of new debt-- It's enough to give you an ex-ENRON headache.

WHERE DO MY TAX DOLLARS GO?

Every tax dollar collected is divided into the following four parts: Municipal Tax, County Tax, Local School Tax, and Regional School Tax (Municipal and County include Open Space). The percentage that went to each entity in 1998 is represented in the chart.

Local Schools
38%

Regional Schools
27%

Municipal
18%

County
17%

WHAT ARE THE MUNICIPAL EXPENSES?

The Municipal portion (18%) of the tax dollar includes the expenses required to operate the Borough. They can be divided as seen in this chart for 1999:

Fire 3%

Administrative and Financial 8%

Engineering, Planning, and Construction Code 5%

Police 25%

Reserve for Uncollected Taxes 8%

Streets and Roads 13%

Parks, Recreation, and Library 6%

Recycling 4%

Debt Service 7%

Public Buildings and Grounds 4%

Other Departments 7%

Insurance and Social Security 10%

1999 Capial Projects

Due to their size, Capital Projects are paid for over a period of years, with only a portion included in each year's budget. Thje Borough plans to complete the following projects in 1999:

Street Overlays	148,360
Equipment Replacement	138,000
Park Improvements	420,800
Building Improvements	24,000
Fire Equipment	55,000
Sidewalk Repairs	50,000
Landfill Closure	225,000
Computer Equipment	___ 2,000
*TOTAL*	1,063,160

Sewer

Clarifiers	120,000
Plant Improvements	600,000
*TOTAL*	720,000

AN EXPLANATION OF THIS YEAR'S TAX RATE

The 1999 Municipal Budget contains a tax increase of 2 cents per $100 of assessed value. In January of 1998, the Borough's municipal accountant recommended a tax increase in excess of 6 cents per $100 of assessed value as being the minimum figure necessary to maintain the financial stability of the Borough. The Finance Committee considered such a jump to have an unacceptable impact on the taxpayers of the Borough. Accordingly, it began nearly a year-long project to reduce the expenditures of the Borough in order to reduce the need for such a dramatic tax increase. The 1999 Municipal Budget, which was adopted April 5, 1999, was able to hold the projected 6 cents increase to only 2 cents per $100. The Finance Committee was very pleased that such a dramatic reduction in the projected tax could be achieved in a year where the capital budget exceeded one million dollars, including an ambitious overhaul of the Borough's recreational fields.

1999 also saw the establishment of an Open Space Trust Fund by the Borough. The establishment of the Trust Fund was overwhelmingly endorsed in a referendum in November of 1998. For the 1999 tax year, the Borough has chosen to fund the Trust Fund at a rate of 1.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. The balance of the Trust Fund in 1999 immediately after its funding will be $86,303.50. Each year, the Borough Council will decide on a funding figure between zero and 2 cents per $100 of assessed value. The Trust Fund can be used for the acquisition of open space or historical properties within the Borough, and the maintenance and development of passive or active recreational lands within the Borough.

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